Dept clears landslide

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By JAMES GUMUNO
THE landslide which has been blocking the road near Loop village in Laiagam district has been cleared by the Works Department with the help of the police.
Enga provincial police commander acting Superintendent George Kakas told The National yesterday that the road was re-opened last Saturday.
Kakas said a team of police officers were sent to the area after villagers had stopped Works employees from clearing the landslide which had blocked the road for three weeks.
The villagers demanded that their payments on the valuation carried in 2014 for the Laiagam-Porgera road sealing under the Highlands Highway Road Improvement Programme be paid before the road was cleared.
“I did not give into their demands, last Thursday, I arranged for a mobile squad from Hagen with a police task force from Wabag to provide security, while the Works Department moved in with their machines to clear the landslide,” Kakas told The National.
Kakas said the villagers had held business houses and travellers to ransom which was a criminal act.
“I have instructed policemen to arrest anybody demanding compensation for the road affected by landslide and charge them under the new Transport Infrastructure Act,” he said.